Excellent conversations, Matt. The ultra-rich have the most power, so this is most important in relation to them and their financially-based moral influence over us all, but I see it at lower levels too, which think gets at your point about these topics being "unfashionable". In particular in the alternative health and wellness Influencers who are moving to discussions of wealth accrual as a moral exercise, framed in similar terms to those of benevolent billionaires. Their conceptual gymnastics is that the right individuals accruing money allows the to spend it on "good" things, and finding a way to say that capitalism is good. This seems to mean they are positioning themselves as "good" and "right" people and that may of them who are already stealthily wealthy can start to exhibit that wealth a bit more in a way they find consistent with alternative wellness cultures. The pint here isn't that anyone should have money, but pushing towards wealth accrual as a moral imperative is really gross because all wealth at that level is built on the labour of often oppressed others. I mean, look at the large scale environmental damage and human rights abuses that the tech we all use - that I'm writing this comment on - causes. It's unfashionable because we're implicated and to address it in any meaningful way by changing systems, we - you, me, readers - need to start giving up some of the resources and wealth we have.
Also I find the sound quality enforcers so funny. Like, should sound recording and publishing only be left to those with access to the technologies, equipment and skills to produce really high quality audio? The lovely thing about podcasting, just as it was with blogs and with social media, is that all kinds of people can make content and tell stories and share them widely online. Listeners get to decide what stories are meaningful, and whether we are willing to listen through slightly crackly sound or read through typos. Not everyone has an ear or an eye to absolute perfection in quality! I feel bad for folk who can't listen to things that sounds like the world as it is, but to dismiss things because it's not perfect is a bit arrogant.
Excellent conversations, Matt. The ultra-rich have the most power, so this is most important in relation to them and their financially-based moral influence over us all, but I see it at lower levels too, which think gets at your point about these topics being "unfashionable". In particular in the alternative health and wellness Influencers who are moving to discussions of wealth accrual as a moral exercise, framed in similar terms to those of benevolent billionaires. Their conceptual gymnastics is that the right individuals accruing money allows the to spend it on "good" things, and finding a way to say that capitalism is good. This seems to mean they are positioning themselves as "good" and "right" people and that may of them who are already stealthily wealthy can start to exhibit that wealth a bit more in a way they find consistent with alternative wellness cultures. The pint here isn't that anyone should have money, but pushing towards wealth accrual as a moral imperative is really gross because all wealth at that level is built on the labour of often oppressed others. I mean, look at the large scale environmental damage and human rights abuses that the tech we all use - that I'm writing this comment on - causes. It's unfashionable because we're implicated and to address it in any meaningful way by changing systems, we - you, me, readers - need to start giving up some of the resources and wealth we have.
Also I find the sound quality enforcers so funny. Like, should sound recording and publishing only be left to those with access to the technologies, equipment and skills to produce really high quality audio? The lovely thing about podcasting, just as it was with blogs and with social media, is that all kinds of people can make content and tell stories and share them widely online. Listeners get to decide what stories are meaningful, and whether we are willing to listen through slightly crackly sound or read through typos. Not everyone has an ear or an eye to absolute perfection in quality! I feel bad for folk who can't listen to things that sounds like the world as it is, but to dismiss things because it's not perfect is a bit arrogant.